My friend has decided to work abroad and has handed over her Bengal to me rather than take him abroad.

Its been amazing how quickly he has settled in and seems very happy after just three days.

I am worried about letting him outside. Will such a short time be enough to allow him to wander and will he have sufficient orientation to come back home? I really do not want him kept indoors for too long as he has so many instincts to get out and explore. He is electronically tagged but I haven't put a collar and name tag on him.

There are lots of posts in this forum over the past few months about whether it is safe to let your Bengal go outside. The general consensus of opinion is that you shouldn't let him go outside. Many breeders will not allow their cats to be placed in outdoor homes, your friend's breeder may have that stipulation in her pet contract that your friend signed. She should also inform said breeder of her intention to rehome the cat.

I agree with Elsa, read the many posts out there on this subject. You have to decide what is best for you and for your new friend.

If he's previously been an outdoor cat, you will have a hard time adjusting him to being an indoor pet, which is exactly the problem i had. I acquired my cats at 1yr old and they'd previously been allowed outside by their former owner and wouldn't have it any other way. They were literally climbing the walls!

If you do decide to let him out, the protocol is to wait 2 weeks. I would suggest that you wait at least 6 weeks, and supervise him for the first few days, to see where he goes etc etc.
You could also try a cat harness just to get him gradually used to being outside in a new area.
You also need to assess the area you live in - are there busy main roads nearby? Do the neighbours have dogs that roam in the back gardens?

Cats are very good at finding their way around. They have also been known to venture back to their old homes many miles away if they're let out too soon.
Even if he is electronically tagged, always put a collar and ID tag on him - others will know that he belongs somewhere and is not just a stray or a 'wandering' cat.

Of course, there's always the other option of an outdoor cat run and harness rather than allowing him to roam totally free.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do - and welcome to the forum.

I had my 1 and 1/2 year old bengal for 2 months now. She has been brought up indoors and I mentioned to the breeder that I wanted to introduce her to the garden. They were ok even though they had advertised her as an indoor pet and only really seemed concerned about busy roads.

I kept her in for about 3 weeks, had her chipped and tagged and gave her all the treatments for worms and fleas before I took her out. We are lucky as we have a long big back garden and a cat flap directly leading to it from the room she is in during the day, perfect. She also has not figured out yet that there is a path to the front of the house leading to the main road, fingers crossed she won't find out soon .

Anyway, we made sure we went out with her for the first few times, 10 minutes or so at one time so she could get used toit slowly. She is great as she only goes as far as you do so we took a bit further every single time. Now she has free run during the day when we are not at home. However, I do lock her at night though as I am worried about foxes roaming in the area.

I feel a lot happier now because we have to keep her in one room during the day and can't let her run around the flat. However, knowing that she can choose to go out whenever she wants has made me feel at ease and she is not just kept in one room.

Anyway, we also noticed that she won't be out there for long as she wants to be with us wherever we go indoors and rarely leaves our side when we are at home. It's really funny sometimes as we know she loves being outdoors but isn't too keen on her own. She is very good in making sure we know that she wants us to take her outside.

Besides this, I'd wait at least 2 weeks before you let your cat outside. By then she/he will have identified her/his 'haven' and where it's safe, i.e. the territory.

Although I am happier for our cat to be outdoors, I am slightly concerned about her eating random things she finds. Bengals are known to have sensitive stomachs, so I'd watch that quite closely if you can.

well i agree with elsa on this one. outside to run loose for any cat is dangerous both physical and medical as he will run the risk of either being run over or the risk of catching disease . has he been allowed to wonder and roam free with his past owner, if this is the case he will try always of trying to escape as once a outdoor cat always a outdoor cat, if this was the case you could always have a small cat pen built in your garden where he could be put during the day. you also have to make sure he is treated with a good flea guard if he is going outside otherwise you will have more than one unexpected pet.

Thank you for all your advice. The Bengal is very settled now and having a really good time with him. He has been left to go into the garden and he is curious but always comes home after no more than 30 minutes.

He sleeps a good deal of the day changing rooms on a cyclical basis throughout the day but livens up significantly during the early evening. He is very fussy about his food but havefounda range which he just loves. He is not a lap cat but likes to have his tum tickled. He rolls over some ten to twenty times changing positions for a rub!

He always had a pen on a first floor flat terrace with the previous owner before he joined the house so this is his first realexperience of being let into the garden. I do worry that some of you say he should always be supervised. I hope that I am not taking too much of a risk with this strategy. There are no dogs in the area and traffic is very light at the front of the house. There are a fewcats though that he has faced up to.

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